The Philippine Air Force (PAF) said Thursday its personnel found the missing Piper Seneca plane in Isabela province.
Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo, the Air Force public affairs chief, said one of their air assets located the missing civilian aircraft in San Mariano, Isabela.
“At around 8:05 a.m., on Dec. 5, the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) Sokol helicopter, dedicated for the search and rescue efforts for the missing Piper Plane RPC 1234, has been able to locate the missing aircraft in the vicinity of Barangay Casala, San Mariano, Isabela,” Castillo said.
“While the Helicopter could not land nor come close due to the strong winds and growing fog in the mountainous site, the aircrew were able to relay the exact location to ground forces for the continuous search on foot towards the aircraft’s exact location,” she said.
Tactical Operations Group 2, the PAF unit in charge of air operations in the area, said a civilian R44 aircraft of Lion Air also helped in the search.
It said the ground search party includes of personnel from the Philippine Army, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection and Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Office units from Palanan, San Mariano and Divilacan with local Dumagats as guide.
The PAF said it is making available its parachute jumpers and additional rescue helicopters from the 505th Search and Rescue Group for possible helicopter rescue, once weather permits.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) confirmed the discovery of crash site. CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio, however, did not provide further details until aerial accident investigators reached the area.
“There are sightings of the crash site and just waiting for the official initial report from our aircraft accident and inquiry board investigators on the ground,” said Apolonio.
The plane, owned by Fliteline Airways and operated by Cyclone Airways, went missing after departing from Cauayan Airport on Thursday.
The aircraft, with registry number RP-C1234, left Cauayan at 9:39 a.m. on Nov. 30 and was supposed to arrive at Palanan Airport at 10:23 a.m. The last communication with Cauayan Tower was around 9:50 a.m. Thursday morning.